SRB updates its operational guidance on OCIR

Press releases

Thursday, 23 January 2025

Changes include references to new frameworks and provisions, such as DORA and the EBA Guidelines on improving resolvability
These updates consolidate the general approach taken by the SRB, with some clarifications, but do not change it

The SRB today publishes revisions to the operational guidance on operational continuity in resolution (OCIR). The guidance provides further clarifications to banks on how to implement SRB expectations for resolvability related to:

service identification and mapping;
assessment of operational continuity risk; and
mitigating measures, such as having adequately documented, resolution-resilient contracts, appropriate management information systems and governance arrangements.

In 2021, the initial guidance was already updated with more details on topics related to financial resilience and staffing. Today, the current revisions follow the development of new frameworks, such as DORA, and new provisions, such as the EBA Guidelines on improving resolvability. References are included where appropriate.

The guidance also includes further clarifications stemming from the SRB’s Expectations for Banks, updated references and citations, and removes redundant content. Given the limited nature of these revisions, which introduce no significant changes for the industry, a public consultation was not held.

Some additions (i.e. in paragraphs 18 and 25) will, in practice, depend for their application on measures currently pending (e.g. EBA resolution planning reporting framework overhaul and SRB operational guidance for banks on resolvability self-assessment). These additions will apply only from the 2026 resolution planning cycle.

The guidance is also published in a version with tracked changes, for ease of reference.